Reversible cushion device



Feb. 12, 1952 w. A. TOMS 2,585,415

REVERSIBLE CUSHION DEVICE Filed June 21, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 12mina re/ 175 Feb. 12, 1952 w. A. TOMS 2,585,415

REVERSIBLE CUSHION DEVICE Filed June 21, 1949 2 SI-XEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Feb. -12, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 21, 1949, Serial No. 100,330 In Great Britain March 31, 1948 Claims; (Cl. 155-179A) This invention relates to cushion devices and other articles of the same character, such as seat cushions fo easy chairs or settees, mattresses .for bedsteads, and the like.

The invention has for its main object to provide an improved cushion device of this character composed of sponge rubber, latex foam or other forms of cellular rubber, and enabling free ventilation of air through the interior of the device, the air being circulated by the natural movements of the person sitting or resting upon the cushion device; it is well known that cellular rubber, when in sheet form, is sufficiently porous or permeable for air or perspiration to pass very slowly through the rubber material, but this does not allow for free circulation of air, as is desirable for the upper surface of a seat-cushion or mattress.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved cushion device composed of cellular rubbe material, and reversible in use, like an ordinary cushion or mattress constructed of fibrous material; hitherto, rubber cushions and mattresses have been made with cell-like cavities on the undersurface, or cross-partitioned by de-- 7 pendent walls or webs, which permit access of air from below, but such devices are evidently not 7 reversible.

can circulate freely through the interior and beneath the upper sheet, in whichever position I the cushion Or mattress has been laid.

' showing additional fastening means fo the interior spring assembly.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a detail, taken in the middle of the mattress, showing an alternative method of connecting the rubber sheets to the spring assembly.

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment, being a vertical section of one side edge of the mattress, and

Fig. 6 is a part perspective view of a border portion of the casing employed in this embodiment.

Referring to Fig. 1, the mattress comprises an outer casing with top and bottom covers ll, two similar surface sheets or layers 12 of sponge rubber, the upper and lower sheets or layers being spaced apart by an interior composed of an assembly of upholstery springs l3 such as employed for ordinary spring mattresses, a large number of these open-type upholstery springs I3 being joined together by helical wire springs l4, arranged transversely of the mattress and around its edges. As seen in Fig. 2, the end coils l5 of the main springs l3 are threaded through the wire coils Hl; only one row of springs l3 has been shown in this figure, the position of another row being indicated by the bottom coils IS in chain lines. The sponge rubber sheets H! are of slightly larger area than the spring assembly l3l 5 upon which they are laid, so as to overlap it at the edges, both sheets being similarly arranged so that the mattress is reversible.

The edges of the rubber sheets are molded or otherwise provided with flaps or flanges Hi to form channels [1, running all the way round each sheet; these channels 1! partly enclose the end coils 15 at the edges of the spring assembly, suitable protection such as sheets of white cotton felt or canvas I 8, or cushioning pads of felt or other material being interposed between the spring assembly and the main surfaces of the 'two rubber sheets l2 so as to prevent the coils of the individual springs from cutting into the rubber. The casing II, which is fitted over the whole, has its sides or border [9 provided with ventilating eyelets 20 so that air can circulate freely into and out of the interior, being drawn in and blown out by the movements of the sleeper, as in any normal spring-interior mattress; it will however be appreciated that no dust will be produced inside the rubber-spring mattress, as happens in the case of those constructed of fibrous materials, so that the ventilation takes place freely without discharge of dust into the room.

The flanged edges [6 of the rubber sheets [2 are shown in Fig. .2 as connected together by pre-formed border strips 2|, forming part of the mattress casing and attached to the sheets l2 by rubber solutionor like adhesive; the borders thus consist of double thicknesses of textile maholes 24, as shown in Fig. 3, through which fastenin means such as cords 215 may be passed for attachment to the top and bottom coils 15 of the springs l3 and/or to any convenient points of the connecting wire springs I4 extending around the mattress; serve to anchor the upper and lower rubber sheets E2 to the spring assembly, and to facilitate sliding the whole into the outer casing in readiness for sewing up the taped seams 23.

In order to overcome the possibility of the rubber sheets flapping up and down, or sagging by their own weight when the mattress is being turned, each sheet i2 may be provided with tabs 26 through which cords 21 or other tensile connections can be threaded in the course of construction, these connections passing through the interior spring assembly and thus joining the two rubber sheets 52 together. The tabs 26 may be made of rubber or other suitable material,

molded or secured upon the adjacent faces of the rubber sheets, for example to the number of six upon each sheet; Fig. 2 shows a single tab 26 upon the lower sheet, the connection 2? these attachments will extending up inside the spring 13 to another tab 26 on the inside of the upper sheet, this upper :a:

tab being concealed from view.

The side flanges It may also be fitted with strips '28 of rubberized fabric or the like, stuck thereon by adhesive or vulcanized in place, these strips having lateral flaps 29 which are afiixed to the adjacent surface of the rubber sheets l2.

'As an-alternative method of connecting the rubber sheets to the spring assembly, Fig. 4 shows one sheet 12 molded with a small channel 30 upon its outward face, with suitably spaced holes 3| passing right through the bottom of the channel; by passing cords 32 through convenient holes 3!, looping them over or under the end coils I5 of the springs, laying the intermediate lengths of cord neatly in the channel, and knotting oil the ends of the cord close to their last holes,

.the springs i3 will be connected to the rubber sheet l2, the other sheet bein connected in a similar manner to the opposite ends of the s rings E3. The knots and thickness of the cords 32 will be left in the channels 38 and they will thus not be felt by a person resting on the mattress. Again, similar channels 30 or countersunk holes can be used to accommodate tufts of the usual kind, with connecting cords passing between the tufts of the upper and lower sheets l2, through the interior spring assembly.

In another method of construction, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the reversible mattress has the rubber sheets !2 connected to the interior spring assembly l3l5 by means of the border portion 19 of the casing, the border l9 (shown separately in Fig. 6) being provided with four horizontal flaps 33-38 for this purpose; two of these flaps 3,4, 35, are sewn or otherwise afiixed to the top and bottom of the spring assembly, of which only one spring I3 is shown in Fig. 5, the extreme upperand lowermost flaps 33, 36 being reserved for fastening the rubber sheets or layers l2. After the two flaps 34, 35 have been affixed to the spring assembly, the exposed face of the upper flap 34 is coated with a suitable adhesive and the top rubber sheet l2 laid thereon; the uppermost flap 33 is similarly stuck down upon the top rubber sheet, and the top cover or lid H is then fixed to the border I9 at the seam 23 by tape sewn on by machine. The mattress is completed by sticking-on the other rubber sheet 12 between the lower flaps 35, 36, and sewing on the bottom cover I i in a similar man ner, these operations bein more conveniently performed after inversion of the spring assembly with the top sheet l2 attached thereto.

The sponge rubber sheets or layers 12 employed may be made in a single thickness or in two or more thicknesses, of the same or of different degrees of softness; two or more thicknesses may be bonded together on fabric which leaves flaps protruding beyond the edges to form a simple means of attachment of the spring assembly, for example by sewing, the whole being then slid into an outer case or cover.

Instead of open-type springs I3, there may be used encased springs fitted into pockets made of fabric and joined together by stitching or clip ping in. the well known manner.

The protective material 18, instead of being cotton felt or canvas as indicated above, may consist for example of natural or synthetic rubber, of any desired degree of hardness, tuck to the surfaces of the sponge rubber sheets [2.

The invention may evidently be applied to other articles of the same character, such as cushions for easy chairs or settees, box spring mattresses and the like.

By the term cellular rubber as employed in the appended claims, there is to be understood any form of natural or synthetic rubber having air-cells enclosed in the rubber material, for example inthe forms known as sponge rubber and latex foam, the particular form of cellular rubber used in making the improved cushion or mattress being such as the judgment of the manufacturer may dictate.

What I claim is:

l. A reversible cushion device of the character set forth, comprising two similar sheets of cellular rubber material, an assembly of coiled upholstery springs interposed between said sheets to space them apart, inturned flanges molded integrally along the edges of said sheets, marginal portions of said spring assembly being engaged between said flanges and edges of said sheets, and an outer casing enclosing said sheets and spring assembly, the sides of said casing being apertured for circulation of air between said sheets.

2. A reversiblecushion device of the character set forth, comprisingtwo similar sheets of cellular rubber material, a spring assembly interposed between said sheets to space them apart, said assembly including vertical coiled springs spaced over the area of said sheets and horizontal wire coils extending along the edges of said assembly, said wire coils being threaded upon the ends of aligned vertical springs, inturned flanges molded integraly along the edges of said sheets, one of said horizontal wire coils being engaged between each .of said inturned flanges and the adjacent edge of the respective sheet, and an outer casing enclosing said sheets and spring assembly, the sides of said casing being apertured for circulation of air between said sheets.

3. A reversible cushion device of the character set forth, comprising two similar sheets of celsheets having pre-formed peripheral channelsopening inwardly, the end coils of said springs adjacent to the peripheries of said sheets being partly enclosed in their peripheral channels, and an outer casing enclosing said sheets and assembly, the sides of said casing being apertured for circulation of air between said sheets.

4. A reversible cushion device of the character set forth, comprising two similar sheets of cellular rubber material, layers of protective material applied to adjacent faces of said sheets, an assembly of coiled upholstery springs interposed between the protective layers of the respective sheets, said spring assembly spacing said sheets and layers apart over their entire area, intumed flanges along the edges of said sheets, said spring assembly being engaged between said flanges and edges of said sheets, and an outer casing enclosing said sheets and spring assembly, the sides of said casing being apertured for circulation of air between said sheets.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a rectangular sheet of cellular rubber material molded integrally with flanges along the four sides of said sheet, said flanges being inturned and leaving between their edges and the adjacent edges of said sheet a series of open channels running all the way around said sheet.

WILLIAM ALFRED TOMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,898,573 Schubert Feb. 21, 1933 2,191,889 Hoagiand Feb. 27, 1940 2,208,826 Wolf July 23, 1940 2,231,732 Nachman et a1. Feb. 11, 1941 2,271,842 Nachman Feb. 3, 1942 2,301,596 Wells Nov. 10, 1942 2,309,438 Borisch Jan. 26, 1943 

